


The Wild Hunt

by 15stepping



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Horror, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Demons, F/M, Horror, Monsters, Not Happy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ouija, Predator/Prey, Spirits, Stalking, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-13 11:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17487113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/15stepping/pseuds/15stepping
Summary: When several friends come together for a birthday sleepover on Halloween night, they never expected what creatures would come in the night.





	1. This is Why you Never Play with Oujia Boards

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to find out what you think of what you read! Please leave comments!

October 31st, 1987 Aethelswith Atheling (17), Ainsley Burke (16), Joan Hanson (17), Sarah Harlow (17), and Heluna Umbria (16), went missing at Mrs. Jane Harlow’s home at 147 Cherry Lane. If anyone has information in regards to their whereabouts, please immediately inform your local police department or contact the Wessex County Police Department at 749-XXX-XXXX. 

Saturday,10:30 pm Halloween night, Sarah Harlow’s 17th birthday party.

Aethelswith had never been a fan of Halloween night. It wasn’t because her family was Catholic, nor was it the fact the Sarah always partied a little too hard on her birthday. Rather it was the strange occurrences that had started after her thirteenth birthday, specifically on Halloween night. The 31st seems to hold the worst omens for her. It was as if the things stalking her would grow evermore powerful starting on this day. Birds would start watching her throughout the winter with beady little eyes, another time she swore something or someone tried to drown in her family’s pool, and now the ever increasing empty stares that seemed to followed her had begun to target her friends.   
Joan with her vibrant red hair and ‘too cool to care’ attitude had started complaining about always being cold. Even in the middle of July, she dressed as if it was the middle of November. She felt like a walking corpse that was unable to retain heat. Shy Ainsley who rocked a bitchin brunette perm had the opposite problem. She was always hot, to the point when others touched her, it felt that her skin was oozing the very fires of Hell. Blonde Sarah had always said nothing was going on, but recently an alarming amount of bodily injuries had been piling up on her past boyfriends. Some had little nicks or cuts that they would wake up to find on their body, but the longer the boy had dated her the worst the injury. Just last week, her boyfriend Johnny broke his leg by falling down a flight of stairs. He swore that someone pushed him. But out all of these strange events the craziest occurrence was Heluna was in love.  
Heluna, who was technically Aethelswith’s aunt, grew up in a rather strict household. This pure angel, goody-two-shoes, teacher’s pet, perfection incarnate had broken parents' cardinal rule: if you’re dating we must meet the boy first.   
Not only had Heluna failed to mention him to her parents, but gave as little as possible information to her friends. The only information her friends had gotten her was that his name was Sigurd, and according to Heluna, he was a dreamboat with blonde hair and snake-like eyes. They had met at the reptile exhibit at the zoo in June. He sends her poems and love songs coined ‘ to my love Blaeja’. Apparently, it was a compliment to Heluna's black eyes. It might be the first time in Heluna’s life that she had any true freedom to make her own choice. It was like she was planning their wedding already and the following escape from her father’s control. Interrupting Aethelswith thoughts Sarah pulled out something out of the living room closet. 

“ Girls, let's play a game” Sarah called out. Out of the corner of her blue eyes, she saw the infamous Ouija Board.

“No, way I am doing that!” Ainsley whispered. Her brown doe eyes widened in fear as if she knew who was on the other side.

“Come on! As the birthday girl for the next hour and a half, I get to decide what we get to do. Besides, don’t you guys want to take a little risk.” Sarah scanned the room directly looking at Heluna, Ainsley and her knowing they would be the most reluctant. 

“ Whose in?” Sarah asked while setting the board down on the coffee table. 

“ I’ll join” Joan called from the kitchen after getting another slice of pizza. 

“So will I” Heluna called triumphantly, moving towards the coffee table.

“Heluna, you can’t be serious. Your dad is going to kill you when he finds out.” Aethelswith warned. She could feel it in her gut. A cold, sickening feeling squirmed in her stomach. It was if the room was growing darker, heavier as if more people had joined the room as if they were waiting for them to play or, worst, pushing them to play. Perhaps she was the only one that could tell. Rationally, she told herself it’s just Halloween jitters, nothing is out there or in here. 

“ I totally agree, with Ash. Can’t, we like, just paint our nails or play Twister. Anything… I don’t care… just not this.” Ainsley lithe body seemed the fall into herself as if she could feel the same things as Aethelswith. 

“ Don’t worry about this Ainsley. I got it from Stacy. We’ll each ask a question and be done with it ok. I promise” Sarah gave a radiant reassuring smile ”Besides, you, I, and Stace are on the cheer team together. Would she really do anything bad to us? Plus, she left me some notes on this thing” 

Sarah lifted the note from Stacey. Stacey was on the cheerleading team at their high school with Sarah and Ainsley. They were stereotypical popular girls at their school. Honestly, if Sarah hadn’t met her other friends at their Catholic school, Stacey probably would have led her into hot water, but Sarah was loyal to a fault.   
She started to read the bright pink note.

Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great 17th. Sorry, I couldn’t make it. Love Stace.  
Remember to keep these rules in mind while playing!  
Rules From Stacy  
Be Serious This is not a game  
ALWAYS SAY GOODBYE  
Ask one question at a time  
DO NOT ask about God, when you will die, or where gold is buried.  
NEVER play alone

“See it's totally fine, don’t worry about it. Ainsley, Aethelswith come on please join.” Sarah whined until the remaining girls finally joined in. An unnatural chill came over the girls as their hands touched the planchette. Aethelswith could feel another hand on her wrist lightly tracing the skin as gently as a lover. But, of course, there was nothing there, nothing tangible, clearly, Aethelswith thought that she must be losing a little bit of her sanity. Shakingly, Sarah started speaking.

“Um, Hi, I’m Sarah, In the Star Wars shirt is Joan. In the rainbow nightgown is Ainsley, in the blue PJs is Aethelswith, and to my left is Heluna. We would like to ask some questions”. After a short pause, Sarah continued.  
“ Did someone push my boyfriend Johnny down a flight of stairs?”.  
It felt as if the majority of the silent presence were slightly laughing at the expense of another person there. Slowly, the disk moved towards yes. The girls looked at each other with a silent agreement that none of them had truly moved it.   
“Who did it?” Ainsley whispered barely loud enough for Aethelswith to hear despite being right next to her. The disk moved again but it was not the done by the same spirit as before. The disk started spelling. H-V-I-T-S-E-R-K. 

“Who the fuck is Hvitserk?” Joan uttered. The disk moved again slowly spelling more letters. A-M-O-N-S-T-E-R. The air gets colder as the light slowly dims above them. Flickering on and off. Ainsley visibility shuddered and whipped her hands off the disk. 

“ I’m done! I’m not doing this anymore! I can’t take it touching me with those burning hands anymore!!” Ainsley yelled, fear contorting her face As she ran to the bathroom. Joan went after her, trying to calm the crying girl down.

“I think we should stop- ” Aethelswith replied but the hand tracing her wrist suddenly became a solid bruising grip preventing her from taking her hand off the disk. A dark seductive voice whispered in her ear: You didn’t ask your question my beauty…. As a calloused hand ran through her curled locks. 

“ Did you guys hear that?” she asked.

“What do you mean, I didn’t hear anything’ Sarah quipped as if trying to deny the ever growing gloom pressing down on them. She continued. “Heluna ask your question, I’m going to go check on Ainsley and Joan. They’re taking a while.” Taking her hands off the disk as she went towards the hallway bathroom where it had become oddly silent. Heluna took a shuddering breath before gathering her courage.

“Is Sigurd like Hvitserk- I mean is he an actual monster or are you using the term ‘monster’ as a description of Hvitserk’s personality?” Heluna asked but was replied with no movement from the board.

“ I think you need to ask something simpler or maybe you need to ask one question at a time,” Aethelswith responded quietly.

“ Ok. Where is Sigurd?” Heluna continued jokingly not thinking the board would know the answer. To their surprise, the disk began to move again. H-E-R-E.

“Sigurd, can’t be here. He doesn’t even live in this county-” She turned to Aethelswith   
He told me he’s from-” a sharp knock came from the door interrupting her. They look away from the board and stared at the doorway.  
“Heluna, don’t answer the door!” Aethelswith hissed, but a strange trance seemed to overtake Heluna. Black eyes almost glittering with want.   
“But what if it's him... I’ll just answer the door and prove it's not.” She whispered back.  
“Heluna, please! I can’t play alone, remember.” Aethelswith pleaded with wide blue eyes. Another harsher knock came from door impatiently waiting for them to answer. Heluna regained focus and looked back at Aethelswith nodding to finish the game. Taking a deep breath Aethelswith asked her question  
“What do you want from us?” she questioned as the invisible hand holding her wrist began silently trail from wrist to her fingers. The hand settled on top off hers as it guided the disk. A-Q-U-E-E-N. It had taken a slight pause and began to move again. A W-I-F-E. It moved for a final time painfully gripping her hand. A-M-A-T-E ” Ugh gag me with a spoon. What does this psycho think he’s talking about? Were, like, 17.” She thought to herself with disbelief.   
“Hey, Heluna will you get the other girls? We need to say goodbye to board” Aethelswith stated growing tired of the hand on top of hers.   
“Yeah let me go answer the door first,” Heluna said as she quickly moved from the living room.   
“ I really don’t think that’s a good idea-” she was cut off by the hand crushing hers, keeping her hand on the disk. She could feel the sharp sting of claws digging into her skin. Suddenly, the room seemed to warp into another landscape entirely. The cream-colored living room faded into a stone covered walls. Taperaries were hung against the walls and furs covered the floor. She was bathed in firelight coming from the roaring fireplace. She could now see a discolored hand on top of hers. Claws protruded from where a normal person’s nails would be.  
“Do not worry my princess. Soon we'll be together again” a dark gravelly voice spoke to her. She willed herself to look up at where the voice was coming from. The darkness obscured his face but from the shadows, she could make out curved horns, sharp teeth, leathery wings, and haunting ice blue eyes. She quickly tore her hand away from his, as she tore her body away. shuffling from him as quickly as possible.   
“Get away from me!” Aethelswith whispered frantically backing up towards the wall. He remained in the darkness but she could see the hurt in his eyes.  
“You don’t remember do you?” he sighed, “ I suppose it has been so long since we were last together, my beauty. But after tonight, our long wait will be over and it will be as things once were. Before you were taken from me.”   
Turning from the creature she ran out of the room her heart hammering in her chest. She wasn’t crazy, all this time she had been right. There had been something following her and her friends. She crashed through the wooden door in front of her leading back to the living room.  
This can’t be right. Why am I back here? She thought to herself. She had to get her friends and say goodbye to that stupid board. Running to the hallway bathroom she swung open the door to discover Ainsley, Sarah, and Joan had disappeared.   
Inside the bathroom, lava oozed from the bathroom mirror and burn marks covered the room. On the other side of the room, frost covered the shower tiles while snowy handprints showed an apparent struggle. The most disturbing part of the room was the floor. What had once been a pastel pink tiled floor now had a gaping hole in the center that only showed an earthen black abyss. Whatever had taken the girls was not of their world.  
Rushing from the scene, she realized Heluna wasn’t with her. Please God, tell me she didn’t answer that damn door! In another sprint, she raced to the front door. Opening it to find it empty but crawling with snakes, from constrictors to vipers. Slamming and locking the door back behind her, she couldn’t help the fear rising back up.  
This isn’t happening! I’m dreaming! Right of course. I’ve fallen asleep first like I always do. She thought to herself. Ignoring the ever present darkness closing in around her, she made the move to pinch herself. If it doesn’t hurt that must mean I’m dreaming. Quickly her right hand pinched her left arm but was only felt pain.   
Oh God, why are doing this to us? Is it my fault? She thought. but was interrupted by the bang at the front door.  
“Princess, unlock the door.” he chastised gently, “ We don’t want to keep the others waiting, do we?”. He was real, this was real. She gripped her crucifix as tears filled her eyes, and recited a prayer knowing it was the only thing that could help her now. She started speaking loudly,  
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He causes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even when I walk in the valley of darkness, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff-they comfort-”  
“Princess, you know I hate when you call on your precious Jesus Christ. You know he can’t help you now.” The voice was no longer sweetly chastising her, but replaced with a gravely demonic voice that dripped with acidity. As if he sensed her fear he returned to a sweet purring tone,   
“I didn’t want to scare you too much, but we’re going to be late for the hunt princess…” he sighed.  
“I guess we're going to have to play a little rough… but you always enjoyed that didn’t you? ” he chuckled darkly. Without a second to spare the figure kicked down the door showing the monster behind the door. Her breath caught in her throat, staring at the creature before her. He was strangely attractive with long braided hair, dark beard, and Armani suit. Like a predator on the prowl, he began to slowly advance towards her.   
Shit Sarah, this is why we don’t play with Ouija boards! Aethelswith thought to herself as she slowly back stepped from him. Stalling for time to get to the back kitchen door she faked bravery and began talking to the creature.  
“Look, I’ve never met you in my life buddy. You’ve clearly got the wrong girl.” She boasted but remained unfazed by the announcement.  
“Princess, it won’t be long until you remember. Now don’t make this difficult for me. I don’t like causing you pain, well, unless you ask for it. That’s a different story.” He chuckled.   
“Great, I’m dealing with some pervy demon intent on getting into my pants” she mused. But then inspiration struck her, perhaps I could entice him with her body. Sure she never had any real experience with that type of thing unless you count edmund at eighth grade bible camp, but then again she was pretty sure he was in the closet. Subtly shifting her nightshirt to show off some of her skin, she gave him her best fearful face pleading mercy with him  
“Sir, please, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. Please won’t you just let me go? I promise I’ll behave” she pleaded seeing the lust in his eyes. Only of few more steps lay between her and the back door.  
“Oh, but Princess, I want play with you” He growled taking a swift lunge at his target, but she had already reached the door. Running into the dark forest not bothering to look back or think about what might in the woods she ran.   
Heart hammering in her chest, she ran further into the maze of forbidding trees. Taking a look behind her, she saw glowing blue eyes in the distant.  
“You just made this so much more fun for me, Princess!” He laughed. It sounded like he was right behind her breathing down her neck.   
“Leave me alone!” Her shrill voice cried out, tears visibly coming down her face. With a loud crack another creature came from the woods. It was… It was a dog?   
Thinking of the sheer absurdity of the situation, she could laugh to herself. But soon the body of the fluffy white dog began to grow adding another head, limbs, tails, until there were six eyes look back at her. These were no fluffy white dogs anymore, molted decaying skin clinged to their skulls while they possess the same icey glowing blue eyes as their master. Another figure came up behind the hounds with the same glowing blue eyes.  
“I see you’ve met my very own Cerberus.” He paused to look back at his princess running further to the starting line,” When playing this game, it’s important not to make any noise” He shouted to her.  
Ignoring his words she continued running but the scratches and marks were blooding her skin and she knew she couldn’t keep up this pace. Suddenly she saw candlelight in a window of a abandoned Victorian house. Not believing her luck she renewed her effort. Just a little farther and they’ll be someone there to help you she prayed.  
Crashing through the door she found it entirely empty, but safe enough for her taste. Taking a turn back she saw the demonic creature and his dogs jogging at a leisurely pace. Flipping the bird to them, she slammed the door, locked it and began pushing the nearest piece a furniture against the door when the house changed around her.  
Changing from a decaying house, the candles began glow in force all around her, faded wallpaper return to it’s colorful hues, and broken and missing furniture filled the foyer. Turning to face a sweet girly voice Aethelswith faced a small blonde girl with purple bruises around her neck, staring at her with green eyes  
“ Are you ready to play the game?”


	2. Let's Play A Game

“I said Are you ready to play the game?” the little blonde girl asked loudly. She had a little doll next to her with cracks in its porcelain skin with eyes that blinked at the same time as its owner. 

“Who are you? Are you…” Aethelswith glanced back towards the door she leaned against with all her weight trying to prevent the creature from entering. “Are you with him?” she whispered

“ Oh no,” the little girl paused to think,” well not really. But you don't have to worry about him right now. I have to explain the rules first.” the girl came closer kneeling down to Aethelswith wiping the tears from her eyes. Although to any other person this might be a soothing gesture, there was something horribly off about this little girl.

She looked like a little girl, acted like a little girl, but something wasn’t human about her. Her skin had a translucent quality too it and eyes seemed hollow yet fragile much like her doll’s appearance. Worst were the marks on her neck. Purple bruises that were strikingly visible against her pale neck. An Angry yellow mark colored her throat as if to say “This is what killed me”. 

“Don’t worry it doesn’t hurt anymore. It hasn’t hurt for a long time ” she said sweetly, noticing Aethelswith’s pitying looks. 

“The man who did this can’t hurt me, my sisters, my mother, or anyone else anymore. I made sure of it,” she whispered darkly, her eyes were no longer hollow but instead showed a sinister wrath of hellfire that promised vengeance to her enemies. 

In a strange way, Aethelswith was not scared of this little girl, rather she felt great sorrow for her. This little girl had been stuck in this place for who knows how long and hadn’t been allowed to past peacefully into the next life. Instead, the burning rage of her death had left what she had assumed to once be a happy little girl into an empty porcelain doll. Grabbing the little girls hand she gently squeezed it she stopped her crying. Hell, it was much better to be with this girl than to be out there with that creature

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to cause you to worry,” Aethelswith replied, “My name is Aethelswith, what’s yours?”

“Oh, I already know your name and your friends' names and the names of your family. You see I had to for the game. But I suppose if you need any help during the game you can call on me.’ she stated as it was the most normal thing in the world for a dead Victorian girl to know the interpersonal details of several teenagers living in the 1980s. 

Doing a little curtsey, she introduced herself,

 

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Marjorie Hamstead.” grabbing Aethelswith’s hand she dragged her from the foyer, “Come on, I’ll take you to your friends. They’re waiting for us to come upstairs.”

They passed elaborately decorated walls with dark green wallpaper lined with knickknacks and framed family photographs. With each step they took the facade of the house started changing. Although it appeared like a loving family home blood splatter covered the walls, knocked over items remained on the floor, and bloody handprints stained the door handles. It appeared more like a crime scene than a home. The carpet underneath her feet felt wet to the touch as if the blood was still fresh. An unassuming white door stood before the pair. Slowly opening the door Marjorie pushed her inside.

The nursery was in faded pink flowered wallpaper print surrounded with dolls, books, a little tea set, and two lily-white beds. There stood all her missing friends along with slightly altered copies of Marjorie. Ainsley had burn marks along her nightgown and seemed the most frazzled out of the girls. She laid on the bed snuggling a large stuffed bear as a little blonde girl showed off her collection of dolls. This little girl had twin blonde braids and a large bloodstain on her nightgown from her slit throat.

Joan was pacing back and forth in the playroom while several strands of red hair were covered in ice. Heluna was at the tea set with another little blonde girl with blue eyes that a stab wound through her chest. While Sarah sat on the other bed with the final blonde girl playing cards.

“Aethelswith your here” Joan voiced in relief hugging her. Noticing the scratch marks and blood coming from cuts Joan’s face darkened and whispered, “What did that bastard do to you?”

“Nothing, I managed to get away and hid in this house. What happen to you guys?’ Aethelsiwth questioned

“ Well, I went to the bathroom to check on Ainsley and I get there shes crying about some creature stalking her. Out of nowhere, the bathroom mirror starts smoking and the center is melting and this freaky hand, I swear it was made of half monster half fire and brimstone, grabs Ainsley. I tried to pull her back but some fucker with sickly ice cold hands grabs my ass and pulls me through some portal. Then I land here in the haunted mansion from Disneyland entertaining the Grady twins from the shining.” Joan ranted with visible annoyance.

Soon all the girls were back together talking about what had happened to them. Sarah saw the disaster in the bathroom and saw swallowed by a hole that dropped her in this house. Ainsley quivered describing the hell she saw as a fiery demon dragged her from the bathroom. Heluna wasn’t taken violently at all and was rather shocked at what had happened to her friends. She simply stated that is was Sigurd at the door waiting for and starting apologizing saying “This isn’t how I wanted us to be together”.

An irritated voice interrupted their catching up,

“ I have to explain the rules by midnight so if you please sit down, I’d like to get started,” Marjorie stated but one of her younger sisters interrupted her,

“ Can’t we play with them some more? It’s been so long since we’ve had any company” one of the girls pleaded towards Marjorie, but was met with a sharp rebuke.

“No, we have a job to do.” Marjorie snapped but soften at the youngest’s sniveling.

“If they get captured we can invite them over for tea, okay Florence,” Marjorie said softly and motioned the girls to begin the ceremony. The youngest, Florence placed a little white embroidered bag in front of Ainsley. A slightly older girl placed a similar pink bag in front of Sarah and a green bag in front of Joan. The final girl a gave a fur-lined bag was given to Aethelswith and a leather purse was given Heluna.

Hidden in a little purse sat an item that had each been taken from them previously. Ainsley pulled out a family photo that edges had been frayed with fire. It was the Burke’s Christmas card photo. Her mother, father, and her sister Ashley all stood smiling with her on the beach. It felt tainted like some creature had defiled the memory of this happy family with a horrifying obsession of a teenage girl.

“Oh my God, this is last year’s Christmas card! Does this mean this creep has been watching me since then?” Ainsley squeaked out eyes searching for an answer.

“Of course, each player will have taken an item of their intended target before the ceremony. It item must remain with the target. Should the target escape and the item is captured by the player, the player may reattempt capture until the target’s 21st birthday.” Marjorie stated as if she had done this a dozen times before.

“Wait a second, who are these players? Why are we the target? All we did was play with a Ouija board!” Sarah exclaimed with worry etched on her face. Marjorie cut her off and made a motion for silence as her sisters made a ring around them.

The light in the room began to dim as the scene around the girls changed. The wooden floor had turned into a rigid mass of stone. Behind the girls, the wallpaper peeled off slowly showing an ancient clock painted in blood moon hues. The haunting clang of midnight played ringing before them as time began to slow. 

Instead of sweet little girls, small bubble-like orbs were above the girls heads each filled with light. Marjorie even looked more sinister now with eyes shaded in a glassy hue and body stiff and rigid. An eerie cold voice sang out in sync with the former sweet voice.

“You’re here to play a game with us. You have been specifically chosen as the target of the kings of the Others domain. You may open your bags now if you have not previously opened them.” the creature that had replaced Marjorie spoke.

Heluna pulled out a gold ring. Aethelswith recognized as a Christmas gift from Heluna’s father. A blue scrunchie came out of Joan’s bag and a large pearl earing out of Sarah’s. Aethelswith hesitated for a moment before slipping her hand into the purse. Feeling a feathery soft lace fabric she pulled it out. Before her stood to a piece of fabric she had lost her freshman year of high school. It appeared largely insignificant to others but her grandmother had given her just before she passed. Aethelswith briefly wondered if her friends' items had any specific value to them.

“ Place these items upon your person, if you cannot you may use the bag given to you.” the creature inside of Marjorie spoke quickly and continued,   
“ You will have until sunlight in the domain to escape the maze we have set up for you. Should you escape the maze but not reach the replica of the place of original capture and close the portal a new maze shall be chosen the following night. If there are any questions, I will now answer them” the creature finished its spiel waiting for the shock to pass the girls. 

“God, it’s like we're in some shitty gothic romance novel!” Sarah cried out not believing the gravity of the situation. 

“More like a B-list horror flick” Joan muttered under her breathe as the second chime of midnight sounded. Jokes aside several questions flashed through their minds.

“What is the portal? How do we close it? How much time do we have to complete the maze” Aethelswith asked, thinking to herself that clarification on what they had to do was the best course of action. Who knew how much time they had left?

The creature’s head turned with its empty eyes turning toward her and began answering with surprising straightforwardness.

“The portal used tonight was done with the Ouija board given to you. A least one target must reach the board and say goodbye to all hunters using their names. You will have until sunrise, that is seven hours starting at midnight, to close the portal.”

Ainsley found her courage and squeaked out her questions.

“Why are they doing this to us? We haven’t done anything to deserve this treatment. We didn’t want them to take us or to play this stupid game.” she ranted quietly, as she nervously wrung her hands together, only quietly whispering to herself, “what happens if they get us?”

“Well, I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in this matter.” the voice coming out of the girl said mockingly, “Some people are chosen simply because they are physically appealing and the creature enjoys the hunt. Most of the time, targets are chosen to become the mate of the hunter. This way the object of their affection has a slim chance of going back home, especially if their human.”  
Darkly, her face contorted into a gleeful grin before them as her voice chilled them to the bone.

“As to what to expect when they capture you, well” she giggled, “ when a man has lust in him he’s rather hard to stop. He will take you back to his kingdom and consummate the relationship where you will likely become his wife or concubine.”

Another chime of the clock rang signaling the coming of the game, even the orbs above their heads began to dim as the air around them became colder.

“Any more questions, your time is running out’” the voice inside of Marjorie sang out in sadistic glee, sealing the conclusion that Marjorie's body was only a conduit for this ceremony.

“How are we supposed to fight them off? Doesn’t it seem they have an unfair advantage?” Joan hissed, visibly enraged at the unfairness or their predicament. The voice made an annoyed huff and spoke 

“They will take turns, only coming to their target one at a time. The first target must be taken before the next hunter can begin. They may work in pairs of two or hinder-” but another chime came from the clock.

The spirit possessing the body of Marjorie began gleefully clapping with vigor as if she had been waiting for this spectacle all year. The room began to warp into another landscape. No longer were the girls in the clocktower nor at the Victorian mansion, instead a dark room devoid of light greeted them. Vaguely medieval looking with its stone walls, floors, and arched windows. 

“It’s time to begin!” the voice cried out cheerfully no longer using the body of a young girl to lure them into a sense of peace. Taking in the frightened looks of the girls it did not seem to understand their hesitation.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s play a game.”


End file.
